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why the right side?
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I've poked through my library looking for a definitive statement and haven't found one. So, here at least are some possibilities. <br /> <br />All early U.S. locomotives of which I found illustrations last night show the controls on the right-hand side. The valve settings (the critical control) are direct mechanical linkages located outside of the driving wheels, which places them on the very outside of the locomotive. The choice, then, is to place them on the far left outside or the far right outside, and since most people are right-handed, presumably the early designers did what seemed intuitively obvious and chose right-handed. (What would have happened if Trevethick et al. were left-handed)? <br /> <br />Once double-track became necessary for traffic conditions, the logical thing to do is to "hand" the tracks, one for eastward, the other for westward traffic. But in itself the right-hand locomotive doesn't require you to have right-hand traffic, and a few railroads, notably C&NW and portions of the Santa Fe, chose left-hand. <br /> <br />However, because stations are to the outside of the tracks, right-hand locomotives make it easier to have right-hand direction. That allows the engineer to easily receive a signal from the conductor on the platform (the time-honored highball), to easily pick-up train orders from an operator standing on the platform, and provides him with better visibility of the train-order semaphore or passengers waiting on the platform as his train approaches. The fireman, one would hope, has his head down attending to his fire, and is not idly gazing at the passing scenery. <br /> <br />At a later date, signaling appears, first in interlockings and later automatic block signals. Again, as a simple field-side mast placed to the outside of the track (unless you want to spread the track centers for clearance) is the cheapest solution, right-hand operation gives a better view. Otherwise you have to put your signals on signal bridges to place it where the engineer can see it. It doesn't do you much good to see the signal only in advance; it's necessary to see the signal right up to the moment you pass it. <br /> <br />Today, it makes less difference. But on a passenger railroad, if you want to place your stations on the left-hand side, you'll either need left-hand operation or two men in the cab, if you want efficiency and safety. <br /> <br />Interestingly, mine trucks are all left-hand drive. Most open-pit mines started out as right-hand operation but most now have shifted to left-hand to protect the operator in case of collision. This is not as unusual as you might think -- not operator error, but road conditions: soft spots and slip outs cause a heavily laden truck to abruptly lurch.
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